We investigate for the first time the compatibility of nanovials with microfluidic impedance cytometry (MIC). Nanovials are suspendable crescent-shaped single-cell microcarriers that enable specific cell adhesion, the creation of compartments for undisturbed cell growth and secretion, as well as protection against wall shear stress. MIC is a label-free single-cell technique that characterizes flowing cells based on their electrical fingerprints and it is especially targeted to cells that are naturally in suspension. Combining nanovial technology with MIC is intriguing as it would represent a robust framework for the electrical analysis of single adherent cells at high throughput. Here, as a proof-of-concept, we report the MIC analysis of mesenchymal stromal cells loaded in nanovials. The electrical analysis is supported by numerical simulations and validated by means of optical analysis. We demonstrate that the electrical diameter can discriminate among free cells, empty nanovials, cell-loaded nanovials, and clusters, thus grounding the foundation for the use of nanovials in MIC. Furthermore, we investigate the potentiality of MIC to assess the electrical phenotype of cells loaded in nanovials and we draw directions for future studies.

中文翻译：

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单细胞微载体（纳米管）与微流阻抗细胞术的兼容性

我们首次研究了纳米瓶与微流控阻抗细胞术 (MIC) 的兼容性。纳米瓶是可悬浮的新月形单细胞微载体，可实现特定的细胞粘附，创建不受干扰的细胞生长和分泌的隔室，并防止细胞壁剪切应力。 MIC 是一种无标记单细胞技术，可根据流动细胞的电指纹来表征流动细胞，特别针对自然悬浮的细胞。将纳米瓶技术与 MIC 相结合很有趣，因为它将代表一个用于高通量对单个贴壁细胞进行电分析的强大框架。在这里，作为概念验证，我们报告了纳米瓶中装载的间充质基质细胞的 MIC 分析。电气分析得到数值模拟的支持，并通过光学分析进行验证。我们证明电直径可以区分游离细胞、空纳米瓶、装载细胞的纳米瓶和簇，从而为纳米瓶在 MIC 中的使用奠定了基础。此外，我们研究了 MIC 评估纳米瓶中细胞电表型的潜力，并为未来的研究指明了方向。